I waved Nyssa goodbye and climbed up the stairs to our apartment. Despite not using the Qi in me, I still felt my steps were lighter, but perhaps it was some kind of placebo effect. Okay, judging by the change in my breathing pace, it might truly be the placebo effect. I guess I'm not a superhuman just yet.
'Ah, right! We were so… busy, that we forgot about the technique to absorb Qi. She didn't teach it to me!' I suddenly recalled. Eh, the fun was worth the delay, we can go over it tomorrow.
Using my spare key I unlocked the door, finding it blocked by chain locks. I sighed at Merry's tantrum. Sure, I'm the one who told her to always use that thing if she's alone at home, especially because she has more than one or two creepy stalkers and the neighborhood itself was not exactly a haven, but she knew to expect my arrival.
"Merry, are you there? Can you please open the door?" I called out loud, hoping she didn't go to sleep and forget she even locked the door.
"Hmm, who is it? My brother told me to be careful of strangers, sorry," A cheerful voice came from somewhere inside, teasing and poking.
"You spoiled brat, come here and open the chain lock, it's late!"
There was a lot to be done. Training, trying to absorb Qi, getting ready to sleep, and sleep. Yes, I decided to try to absorb Qi on my own in case there was no actual technique to it. It'd be embarrassing if she told me the next day that she just meant for me to figure it out alone. I did promise to work hard without slacking.
"Haha, where have you been so late?" My stunning twin and her cheeky grin appeared from behind a wall, unlocking the mechanism with a swift motion. She opened the door and sidestepped to let me pass.
"I was just hanging out-" I started explaining without knowing how, but before I could stumble with my words, she stopped me.
"Why do you smell like Nyssa?" She sniffed my clothes like some hound dog and wrinkled her nose, "And this hoodie hides your stench, you reek!"
"Smell like Nyssa?" I pondered and tried to sniff it too. It might have been a strange sight from the side, two siblings sniffing a hoodie together. "You are right. It's weak, but the scent is hers," I agreed. It was vague, but after tasting so much of her I could tell that the fragrance belonged to my beloved. Mm, Nyssa, I can't wait to taste her again.
"I'm right? So now you are an expert on Nyssa's scent? That'd be creepy, Nikko," she squinted her eyes and circled me.
*SLAP*
We both froze for a short moment. My hand on her plump butt, and the spank still echoed. It was an instinct, I didn't mean to do it. I was thinking about Nyssa when Merry teased me, and… it just happened.
"I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" I stuttered embarrassedly. The sensation of her butt still lingered between my fingers. It was smaller than Nyssa's but she compensated for it with a cute round shape that stuck out even when she didn't mean to, making it always perfectly spankable.
"It's- it's okay," she mumbled back and hopped away like a scared bunny. There was a red tinge in her round cheeks, and she played with her curly hair nervously. I don't think I found any pain in her eyes, only shyness. What kind of reaction is that? It makes me want to try again!
'Was she always that easy to control?' I pondered when all her teasing disappeared with a single spank. I looked at my palm, moving the fingers a little in wonder like it was a magical tool newly discovered. Maybe I had some surprising natural talents other than being sensitive to Qi.
"Why are you looking at your palm?" She asked quietly, her voice meek.
"Because you also look at it," I noticed. Should I make it a tradition? Perhaps do it every time Merry gets cheeky?
Just the thought made something move between my legs.
'Wait, no, no. Merry is my twin sister, and twins don't spank each other. Besides, I just got Nyssa, she's the only one I should spank.'
"Nobody ever spanked me!" she complained with a shaky tone. She still looked at me from a two-meter distance like I might pounce on her.
"Um, I guess that's why you are so saucy," I chuckled dryly. That discussion was too embarrassing. I have no idea why I spanked her, and normally people don't have the right to spank girls out of nowhere. On the other hand, she did deserve it, I did it on instinct, and she didn't look that upset about it. Maybe just a little.
"You…" she pointed her little finger at me. Its fingernail was painted in a soft white color, showing her preference for less gaudy colors. "Hmph, I'm going to sleep."
"Good night," I said with the lack of a better answer. I already apologized, so there was nothing else I could do. Besides, her blush was so cute there was no more guilt left in me.
My room was neat. A single-size bed in the corner, the sheets still there, a bit wrinkled as I never bothered tucking them. Tucking the bed when you get up made no sense, you were going to sleep on it again the next night. Anyway, there was a small desk with a pile of assignments I worked on for different courses and a shelf above it filled with my study books.
The closet covered the whole wall between the bed and the desk, hiding my clothes within itself. There were no clothes scattered around the room as I always folded them. And… that's it, that was my whole room.
'Hmm, I have slightly under 6 hours to sleep. I will train for 30 minutes, take a quick shower, and have like five hours left before I need to get up."
As a student, I had worse days than that. Although my sleep schedule was usually planned in a way that would include a minimum of six hours every night, there were busier days when it could not be allowed.
I placed a towel on the ground, took off all my clothes, and sat on it cross-legged. Nyssa wasn't there, so nudity wouldn't be as distracting anymore. Since the process and the results were unknown, the towel was there in case it needed to defend the room from the gooey impurities.
A stream of Qi passed through my meridians, the spiritual veins in my body. It was nothing but a few droplets connected to one another, like when you pull up the faucet's handle just barely. It was not enough, that much was obvious. To enjoy the real benefits of the Qi Condensation Stage, I needed more Qi.
My mind sharpened as it searched for the Qi around me. I imagined it as visible molecules, something like air but thicker and more vibrant. At first, my eyes were shut tightly and my body tensed. I then recalled Nyssa's words about how relaxation helps most to absorb Qi and enter meditation.
Slowly, relaxing toe after toe, leg after leg, my whole body was loosened up without cutting any corners. The deep inhales and soft exhales were the only sounds in the room until I stopped noticing them too. The world suddenly turned colorful around me despite my eyes remaining shut.
I breathed heavily, sucking in the weird matter. It might be merely the result of my imagination, but the Qi surrounding me was green, just like the lively blades of grass. At first, I could not affect the energy filling the room, not even in the slightest.
'I'm not giving up. I can see you, little suckers, now I'm going absorb you too,' I talked to the nonreactive molecules and abused them verbally. Wait, what if Qi has consciousness?
'Ahm, I mean mighty little ones, I need you to be one with my body,' I whispered as though trying to appease it. Maybe it worked, because a strand of it found its way to my nostrils, probably a result of the way I depicted it again.
'It's in my body!' I almost lost my concentration in my enthusiasm, but quickly focused again.
I kept whiffing those little stands of Qi into my body, but soon realized it was not an efficient way to absorb it. There was a need for a whole buttload of Qi to fill my meridians and keep a thick circulation, and not enough entered my body this way.
'Wait, the impurities left my meridians through my pores, doesn't it mean the Qi can enter the same way?'
Willing the Qi to converge and assault my body through every single pore, I groaned a little as I felt a surge of energy washing through my veins. No, my spiritual veins. It was addictive, it was like invincibility. I was sure that my punch could damage the wall now. It was not as impressive as it might sound though, the wall was rather old and fragile.
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Please read Author Note.